Public speaking limits pitched for Lakewood

Lakewood residents hold signs during a Board of Education meeting in April. The board is considering capping public speech at one hour.
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Robert Ward/Asbury Park Press
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LAKEWOOD – A township Board of Education meeting is often not just an occasion for discussing public matters, but for witnessing public theater.

Just on Thursday: a resident called a board member a few choice unprintable words; a group of senior citizens staged a walkout; children began to play tag before their parents reprimanded them, and several residents tossed meeting agendas in the direction of the dais in protest.

Several school board members now want to impose tighter restrictions on the public comment portion of the meetings, which occasionally conclude past midnight.

According to the proposal, public comments would be capped at an hour during regular meetings and at 20 minutes during special meetings.

If more than 20 people were to sign up to speak, they would have two minutes to share their thoughts, instead of three minutes. And no more than 30 people could air out what they really think of the district during any one session.

"We recognize that the public needs to speak," said Joel Schwartz, a board member. "But it's not fair to anybody to have to stay until midnight."

On Thursday, the board voted to approve the proposal's first reading. It will be up for adoption Aug. 28, when the public will get a chance to share what they think of the idea.

Former school board President Carl Fink, who rose from his seat in the audience, pointed his finger into the air and led Thursday's walkout. He left the meeting before the matter was discussed.

On Friday, he said he thinks it is a terrible idea.

"That is absolutely absurd," Fink said. "It doesn't make any sense."

Fink argues if the meetings started on time, if board members remained in their seats and refrained from walking around the stage and whispering into each other's ears, and if officials curtailed lengthy recesses, perhaps the meetings would not drag into the early morning hours.

Currently, each member of the public is only supposed to speak for three minutes. But residents often remain at the microphone past the limit. On Thursday, a resident and a board member debated whether the board member was texting or operating a stopwatch on his cellphone.

"Board members leaving the dais is highly disrespectful," said Fink, who led the walkout as the number of board members present dwindled to the point that a quorum was in danger.

Alejandra Morales, president of the newly formed nonprofit La Voz Latina, or the Latino Voice, said Friday that two minutes is nowhere near enough time to detail all that needs to be fixed in the district so its children receive a proper education.

"What can you explain in two minutes?" Morales asked. "We're not asking for anything extra. We're only asking for what is just."